What is George Karl up to?

For whatever reason, George Karl has been intent on labeling the Thunder as a bunch of arrogant kids led by a cocky coach. Obviously Scott Brooks isn’t cocky and comparitvely to the rest of the league, the Thunder’s roster has to rank highly on the Not Cocky Scale.

I think Karl is trying to tap into his inner Zen Master and use some mind tricks to mess with the Thunder. Maybe because Karl sees his team as a bit overmatched and in need of a little motivation or something. Whatever the case is, I wrote about it at length today at CBSSports.com. My feeling? It’s going to backfire because I promise you, the Thunder have taken notice of it.

@Sun_Tzu76The "forest for the trees" analogy is spot on and one that has come to my mind during the course of discussions with the stat guys around here. These debates are all in good fun and highly entraining but I am sometimes put off by the undertone in their argument that I lack true intelligence because I don't take more notice of the trees.

I got in on the last part of "The Sports Reporters" when they were talking about the Thunder playing the Lakers. I loved the line that went something close to: "Kendrick Perkins is like that 'Beware of Dog' sign on your yard." LOL LOL

@CrowHmm, these recent comments are a lot like other "stat" guys I know. Seeming to miss the forest for the trees. Don't get fixated on any one word, it's all good here in context. As for me, I can't wait for tonight to be at the Arena with my 18K+ other screaming compadres. And I love Scott Brooks, I think he takes after my namesake who once wrote: "Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate. "

girlballer :and, I realize it is Karl not Carl…. but I am just trying to get in his head.

Hah! Perhaps you are are resideny zen master!

My hatred for the lakers was tamed a bit after the plaoffs and how genuine Kobes praise seeked for us. All his other commentary seems canned and dismissive.

Is it mere hustle and effort that got thr 3 leading MVP candidates to the line 14, 20 and 21 times last night? Or is that how Stern is having it?

Why did Karl keep iy vague? It does seem his concerns (fear in this instance) outweighed professionalism

I dont believe gettin on the hate band wagon, and although ive maintained that Denver got the better deal all along, ive hater Chis anderson and his pathetic meed for attention by puttina tramp stamp all ove his body and all the othet childish ostentations hr isnsists on adding to his visage. Hot Topic is meant for teenagers, not adults. Im all for living out of the box, but his seems to be some forced entry into some sad milieu of yesteryear. My eyes intrinsically veer away from him when hes on the screen. GO THUNDER!!! God im soooooo pumped for tonight!

I have chill bumps right now writing that! I'm sure Nene and JR, and Anderson and George Carl are sleeping fitfully somewhere out there with visions of Russ storming the lane, KD's silky shot from behind the 3, and Kendrick Perkin's scowl! Sleep in boys-- to paraphrase the words of Wyatt Earp, "You tell 'em H-E-L-L's comin', and it's comin for YOU!!"

That being said, I meant to post this on the other thread about "5 things..." but Royce was too fast for me and got another post in, so here goes. If the sum total of my 1 previous playoff experience as a rabid fan can be trusted (and WHYNOTT?--see what I did there?) playing a tough 6 or 7 game series with another team might actually make you like them more!

I found myself with a grudging respect for the Laker's after last season, to the point that I was ACTUALLY ROOTING FOR THEM as they advanced through the rest of the championships! It may have just been the old,"I hope the team that knocks us out wins it all" feeling that many of you remember from your own high school state championship glory days (like I do) but there was more too it I think. I really came to appreciate-gasp- KOBE, and I was a staunch hater prior to that. I still feel a little tenderness toward them even now, not that that will make it any less sweet when we kick their ass right out of the Western Conference Final!

Oh also, keep in mind Karl was a vocal opponent of OKC ever getting a team. During the Hornets' stint here he said (paraphrasing here) 'Oklahoma City is clearly not an NBA city.' I think he really really doesn't want to lose, but especially to us.

He's definitely trying to sir up controversy to get his team motivated. I don't see how it does anything at all to our team though. Can you imagine, 'we'll show him, we'll go out and lose.' Me neither.

Anybody else think the pacers may actually be able to give the bulls a run here in the first round... I didn't watch the game... Did the pacers pretty much play as well as they are going to play and the bulls as bad as hey are going to play?

I am not expecting my interpretation or preference to be the choice of everyone. I have a preference but I've stated it. Maybe too bluntly fueled by too much coffee and a few other annoyances but it didn't make sense at the time to me to object to sports-hate with gentility. I probably hurt my case some doing that though.

I wasn't bothered by 5 silly things as much as the thought of giving some sanctioning to sports-hate, knowing that it could be taken pretty far here by some verbally and has been real far in reality elsewhere. How much range should sports-hate be allowed to have? What is ok and what is too far? Ultimately up to each person to decide.

If the team is not cocky and the coach is humble then wouldn't "sports-hate" in general be running pretty much the opposite direction of the way the players and coach say they are handling it? Doesn't "sports-hate" help feed what Karl is trying to do? He is sayin' they're disrepectin' / hatin' us. Oldest trick in the hate book- "they started it". Ma, they started it! So now I can get to be mad and respond and call them names and get after it however I want.

I over-reacted to 5 silly things. But this sports-hate thing in general is silly too... at minimum.